


Puppy Love

by redeem147



Category: Buffy the Vampire Slayer
Genre: Fluff
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2011-08-09
Updated: 2011-08-09
Packaged: 2017-10-22 10:07:02
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 1,108
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/236927
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/redeem147/pseuds/redeem147
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>There was something Dru forgot...</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

Spike tried to concentrate on his television, but the high-pitched howling sound outside the crypt was too distracting. “What the bloody hell is that?” He cracked open the door and looked outside, half expecting to see a ghost float in. The howling grew louder. It was coming from the direction of his feet. He looked down into a pathetic little face.

 

The little dog was on its last legs. Its long coat was dirty and bedraggled, its eyes rheumy and its tongue hung out of its mouth. Its paws were bleeding and torn. The howling had stopped, but it made a little whiny noise in its throat.

 

“Sod off,” Spike said. “Don’t want company.” The little dog perked up at his voice. “I’m warning you, I’m in bad mood and feeling a might peckish.” With a last ounce of energy, the puppy wagged its tail. “Oh, hell, come in.” He picked the dog up and carried it inside. “You’d better be house trained, mind.”

 

He sat on his armchair, placing the dog on his lap. “Don’t know what I’m doin’. You’re prob’ly full of fleas.” He held the dog up and looked in its flat little face. “Sunshine? That you?”

 

At the sound of the name, the tail thumped against Spike’s leg. “It can’t be you. I left you in the factory years ago. Figured Angelus used you as a midnight snack. Or Dru forgot you in a corner, and you were a bag a bones.” The dog licked his hand softly. “Speakin’ a bones, guess you’re hungry, eh?”

 

He placed the dog on the chair as he stood up and moved to his fridge. “Nothing much inside here. Think I have some left over chicken.” On opening the door, he noticed his jar of blood. “Wait a mo. If it is you…Naw, Dru wouldn’t. Come to think of it, if anyone would…” He took his Wheatabix bowl from the counter and poured some blood inside. Placing it on the floor, he called, “Here, Sunshine.” The dog perked up its ears, but lay still. “Bugger it, I have to do everything around here.” He put the dog on the floor near the bowl. It sniffed at the blood, then backed away.

 

“Well, that’s a relief. Wouldn’t know what ta do with a bumpy puppy.” He took a container of leftover wings from his fridge. Peeling off a bit of flesh from the bone, he held it to the dog’s muzzle. It made quick work of it. “Good. Normal little dog.” He gave it a bit more chicken. “Not that I want you. Not that you’re welcome here.” He patted Sunshine’s head. “You’ll be out of here soon enough.” He tangled his fingers in the fur, feeling the warmth of the body underneath. “Soon as I give you a bath.”

 

He picked up the little dog and held it close. “Big Bad. I don’t know why I bother.” He sat back down in his chair, with the pup curled up contented in his lap. “Wonder if Buffy likes dogs.”


	2. Sunshine on my Shoulders

“How could one little fluff ball be so damned difficult?” Spike exclaimed, as he tried to place the little dog in the tub of soapy water. With a yelp it sprang from his hands and ran to the side of the crypt. “Come ‘ere, ya mangy mutt.” With vampire speed he snatched up the puppy and took it back to the water tub, submerging in into the suds. He scrubbed at its body with a little brush, and picked it up. He had to laugh. With the fur plastered down, it bore a distinct resemblance to a drowned rat.

 

Cleansing over, he picked up the little creature and encased it in a towel, rubbing it dry. “I’m only doin’ this cause ya smell so bad, mind. Doesn’t mean I’m keepin’ ya. Nothing like that.” The gratefully clean little dog watched him as he picked up the tub and took it out the door of the crypt, emptying its soapy contents on the grass outside. Spike looked up at a familiar face. “Lo, Clem.”

 

“Hey Spike. Just bringing back your copy of ‘Cross Currents in English Literature of the Seventeenth Century’,” the demon said, holding up the volume.

 

“Thanks, mate. Just put it inside. Fancy a beer?” Spike picked up the tub and carried it back into the crypt, his friend following.

 

“Hey, who’s this?” Clem asked, as the dog ran barking to great him. He picked it up, and it licked his wrinkly face. “He’s cute. I didn’t know you had a dog.”

 

“Yeah, well, funny story that.” Spike cracked open the fridge door and pulled out two bottles of beer. “I think it’s Dru’s old dog. I lost track of it years ago. Thought she’d eaten it.” He screwed of the lids, handing a bottle to Clem, who took it as he put the dog on the crypt floor. “Technic’ly, he’s mine, then. She gave him ta me. I didn’t want it, so she took ta carryin’ it around. It disappeared. Sure looks like the same dog. Answers to the same name.”

 

“Really? What is his name? Killer, Fang…?”

 

“Sunshine.” Spike sat on his easy chair, motioning Clem towards the sarcophagus top, made recently more comfortable by the addition of a futon mattress. As he took a swig of his beer, the little dog jumped on his lap and settled down.

 

“Name suits him. So, he’s sort of a stray. Did you get him his shots?” Clem asked.

 

“Can’t really afford a vet,” Spike answered. “Not that it’s my responsibility anyway. It’s not like I asked it to stay here.”

 

“He should get checked out. Don’t want it to get sick. And dogs are nice to have around. I mean, just for companionship. They taste really gamey.” Clem pulled out his wallet. “Let me pay for the vet. I’d hate to see the little guy suffer. And the pads of his paws look sore.”

 

“They were all cut up when he came here. But I can’t take your money.” He ran his fingers though the long, clean fur. “Don’t even know that I’m keepin’ him.”

 

“Come on. I want to help. And it’s not for you, it’s for Sunshine.” He walked over to the chair and patted the dogs head. “I know you’ve been through a lot. I know you’re having a hard time. You could use some unconditional love. And this little guy’s crazy about you, whether he’s the real Sunshine or not.”

 

Spike sighed. Everything always seemed to come back to Buffy. “All right. I’ll take him to the vet tonight. And Clem?”

 

“Yeah, buddy?”

 

“Thanks.”


End file.
